Found guilty five years later

A North Okanagan man has been found guilty of sexual assault about five years after the fact, while both he and the victim were in high school.

In a judgement last month by provincial court Judge David Patterson, the offender was found guilty of two counts sexual assault and one count of sexual interference of a person under 16.

Both the offender and the sole victim in the case cannot be named under a publication ban protecting the identity of minors.

According to court documents, the charges stemmed from four separate incidents in fall of 2019, when the victim was in Grade 9 and the offender in Grade 11.

The victim was 13 during the first three incidents, in which the pair walked on a path near their school. The offender kissed and touched the victim’s body and got them to touch him, as well.

The victim turned 14 before the final incident where the pair walked the same path and the offender tried to undress the victim, touched them sexually and pressured them to touch him sexually as well.

Patterson noted in his judgement that the victim continued to walk the path with the offender because they were young and immature.

"Going with [him] seemed like the safe thing to do in the milieu and context of the school environment as well as the concern about rumours being spread that could trash one's social reputation," reads the judgement.

Patterson found at no point did the victim consent to the sexual interactions and lawyers proved the case beyond a reasonable doubt as required.